On the timescale of stimulus-based action-effect learning

When performing an action, people pick up associations between their actions and the resulting consequences of that action, a phenomenon that has been termed response (R)-effect (E) learning. In the present study, we investigated incidental R-E learning in a forced-choice-that is, a stimulus (S)-based-acquisition mode. Specifically, the study examined at which timescale R-E learning evolves-that is, how many encounters are actually needed to form stable R-E associations. The learning of R-E associations was assessed in a subsequent test phase via effect-based response priming. Experiment 1 tested 4 different numbers of S-R-E repetitions for a 2-2-2 S-R-E mapping. Experiment 2 disentangled the contributions of S-E and R-E associations to the facilitating impact of effect-based response priming by means of a 4-2-4 S-R-E mapping. Experiment 3 investigated whether R-E associations can be picked up even when a given E cannot be unequivocally predicted based on the antecedent S in case of inconsistent S-R-E couplings. Together, the results of the present study clearly show that R-E learning occurs in a stimulus-based action mode and that it evolves very rapidly after only 12 S-R-E repetitions. Moreover, the present findings suggest that at least in this initial phase of learning, complete S-R-E consistency seems to be relevant for R-E learning.     

Inpatient tube weaning in children with long‐term feeding tube dependency: A retrospective analysis

This study investigates the outcome of an intervention program to establish oral feeding after prolonged tube feeding in children. The intervention is based on supervised reduction of enteral formula within a few days supported by a 3‐week program of speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychoanalytically based eating therapy, physical therapy, psychodynamic coaching, and nutritional counseling of the infant and his or her parents. Two hundred twenty‐one cases were included in this study. All patients had been severely ill or were handicapped and had been exclusively fed by tube for most of their lives. The major outcome variable was complete discontinuation of tube feeding with sufficient oral feeding after treatment, defined as the child's ability to sustain stable body weight by self‐motivated oral feeding. Two hundred three patients (92%) were completely fed orally after treatment. Tube feeding was discontinued completely within 8 days in mean, and mean in‐patient treatment time was 21.6 days. The current method can be used by a trained and experienced team to wean tube‐dependent children from prolonged tube feeding. Tube weaning should be addressed from the beginning of tube feeding in all children who are expected to restore oral feeding after the phase of nutritional stabilization. Since successful programs are rare, we were motivated to present our results of this elaborate program in this article.     

Career adaptability predicts subjective career success above and beyond personality traits and core self-evaluations

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) measures career adaptability as a higher-order construct that integrates four psychosocial resources of employees for managing their career development: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. The goal of the present study was to investigate the validity of the CAAS with regard to its effects on two indicators of subjective career success (career satisfaction and self-rated career performance) above and beyond the effects of employees' Big Five personality traits and core self-evaluations. Data came from a large and heterogeneous sample of employees in Australia (N = 1723). Results showed that overall career adaptability positively predicted career satisfaction and self-rated career performance above and beyond the Big Five personality traits and core self-evaluations. In addition, concern and confidence positively predicted the two indicators of subjective career success. The findings provide further support for the incremental validity of the CAAS.     

“This way!”, “No! That way!”—3-year olds know that two people can have mutually incompatible desires

In theory of mind research, there is a long standing dispute about whether children come to understand the subjectivity of both desires and beliefs at the same time (around age 4), or whether there is an asymmetry such that desires are understood earlier. To address this issue, 3-year olds’ understanding of situations in which two persons have mutually incompatible desires was tested in two studies. Results revealed that (i) children were quite proficient at ascribing incompatible desires to two persons, and in simpler scenarios even incompatible desire-dependent emotions; (ii) children showed this proficiency even though they mostly failed the false belief task. Overall, these results suggest that there is an asymmetry such that young children come to understand the subjective nature of desires before they understand the corresponding subjectivity of beliefs. Possible explanations for this asymmetry are discussed in light of conceptual change and information-processing accounts of theory of mind development.     

The connection between magnitude and discrimination scales and direct and indirect scaling methods

(1) An analysis of the method of paired comparisons shows that Case V and Case VI, the latter characterized by log-normal distributions and Weber's law for subjective continua, are fundamentally indistinguishable. Case VI produces a log-arithmetic interval scale of subjective magnitude. (2) It is demonstrated that the difference between discrimination scales according to Case V and from category rating is due to the difference between intra- and interindividual variability yielding different Weber functions.This research was supported by the Humanistic Faculty of the University of Stockholm and by the Swedish Social Science Research Council. I am indebted to Mr. U. Forsberg for computational assistance.     

ON PSYCHOPHYSICS IN GENERAL AND THE GENERAL PSYCHOPHYSICAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION IN PARTICULAR

The first part of the paper discusses theoretical issues regarding the problem of measurement in psychophysics and the suitable choice of a subjective scale, with special reference to the views of Ekman, Ross, Suppes & Zinnes, and Treisman. The theory of the GPDE is discussed more fully than before. In the second part, further empirical confirmation of the GPDE is given for the following combinations of Weber functions: constant-constant, linear-linear, linear-parabolic, parabolic-parabolic.     

Children's selective trust decisions: rational competence and limiting performance factors

Recent research has amply documented that even preschoolers learn selectively from others, preferring, for example, reliable over unreliable and competent over incompetent models. It remains unclear, however, what the cognitive foundations of such selective learning are, in particular, whether it builds on rational inferences or on less sophisticated processes. The current study, therefore, was designed to test directly the possibility that children are in principle capable of selective learning based on rational inference, yet revert to simpler strategies such as global impression formation under certain circumstances. Preschoolers (N = 75) were shown pairs of models that either differed in their degree of competence within one domain (strong vs. weak or knowledgeable vs. ignorant) or were both highly competent, but in different domains (e.g., strong vs. knowledgeable model). In the test trials, children chose between the models for strength‐ or knowledge‐related tasks. The results suggest that, in fact, children are capable of rational inference‐based selective trust: when both models were highly competent, children preferred the model with the competence most predictive and relevant for a given task. However, when choosing between two models that differed in competence on one dimension, children reverted to halo‐style wide generalizations and preferred the competent models for both relevant and irrelevant tasks. These findings suggest that the rational strategies for selective learning, that children master in principle, can get masked by various performance factors.     

Impact of physical and psychological resources on functional autonomy in old age

Functional autonomy is a core condition of successful ageing. To maximize autonomous functioning is not only a claim of social policy but also primarily an individual need. Part of the challenge of preventing unnecessary dependence in old age is to recognize the diversity among the elderly and the different availability of their physical, psychological and social resources. The aim of this study is to examine the age- and time-related changes in functional autonomy (activities of daily living, ADL, and instrumental activities of daily living, IADL) and the psychophysical resources correlated with these changes in a sample of 441 healthy elderly persons aged 65-95. Furthermore, we are interested in the long-term predictive power of physical resources (objective and subjective health, physical strength) and psychological resources (memory) on functional autonomy. Results show significant age- and time-related deteriorations in functional autonomy and in most psychophysical resources. Structural equation model analyses were performed to test the long-term predictive power of these resources. Results suggest that ADL is better predicted by physical resources than by psychological ones, but for IADL the reverse is the case; here memory variables play a dominant role. Physical and psychological variables are thus specifically related to different components of functional autonomy. This has to be taken into account in the development of preventive and intervention programmes.     

On tools and toys: how children learn to act on and pretend with 'virgin objects'

The focus of the present study was the role of cultural learning in infants' acquisition of pretense actions with objects. In three studies, 18- and 24-month-olds (n = 64) were presented with novel objects, and either pretense or instrumental actions were demonstrated with these. When children were then allowed to act upon the objects themselves, qualitatively similar patterns of cultural (imitative) learning both of pretend and of instrumental actions were observed, suggesting that both types of actions can be acquired in similar ways through processes of cultural learning involving one or another form of collective intentionality. However, both absolute imitation rates and creativity were lower in pretense compared to instrumental actions, suggesting that the collective intentionality that constitutes pretense is especially difficult for children to comprehend. An additional analysis of children's gazes to the experimenter during their actions revealed that 24-month-olds looked more often to the experimenter during pretense actions than during instrumental actions - suggesting that pretense is culturally learned in a similar fashion as practical actions, but that young children understand pretense as a more inherently social, intersubjective activity.